Altitude Adjustment of Empirical Models for Estimating Clear-Sky Solar Irradiance

Abstract This research provides an innovative empirical model for solar irradiance estimation under clear sky conditions. The new model adjusts the estimates of G-EM clear-sky solar irradiance model (Goilean et al. AWUT-Physics 66, 2024, 241) with respect to site altitude. The study was conducted based on a synthetically obtained dataset, generated using two high-performance clear-sky solar irradiance parametric models. Preliminary tests were performed against high quality clear-sky radiometric data. The results demonstrate that explicit insertion of altitude as an input parameter of G-EM enhances their performance in mountain locations, thus expanding its geographical area of applicability.